How to be more focused. How to start your day at 5:00 AM. I have been an early-riser for over a year now. Monday through Friday I wake up at 5:00 AM without hitting the snooze button even once. I never take naps and rarely feel tired throughout the day. The following is my advice on how to start your day (everyday) at 5:00 AM.The idea of waking up early and starting the day at or before the sunrise is the desire of many people. Many highly successful people attribute their success, at least in part, to rising early. Early-risers have more productive mornings, get more done, and report less stress on average than “late-risers.” Many people simply “can’t” get up early because they are stuck in a routine. Relocate your alarm clock.Having an alarm clock too close to your bed is the number one reason people simply cannot get up in the morning.
Scrap the snooze.The snooze feature on all modern alarm clocks serves absolutely no constructive purpose. Have a reasonMake sure you have a specific reason to get up in the morning. How to instantly improve your life. How to become an early riser. By Leo Babauta I’ve found that waking early has been one of the best things I’ve done as I’ve changed my life recently, and I thought I’d share my tips. I just posted about my morning routine, and thought you might like to know how I get up at 4:30 a.m.
For many years, I was a late riser. I loved to sleep in. Then things changed, because I had to wake up between 6-6:30 a.m. to fix my kids’ lunches and get them ready for school. But last year, when I decided to train for my first marathon, I decided that I needed to start running in the mornings if I was to have any time left for my family. So, I set out to make waking up early a habit. Here are my tips for becoming an early riser: Don’t make drastic changes.
Interview with Tim Ferriss of The 4-Hour Workweek (1) If you heard of a new book called The 4-Hour Workweek, you know who is Timothy Ferriss. Tim speaks six languages, runs a multinational firm from wireless locations worldwide, a national champion in Chinese kickboxing, and has been a popular guest lecturer at Princeton University since 2003. Recently his book caught my attention. The title itself is very attractive to me who work at least 40 hours per week (if not more). There are positive reviews about the book around blogosphere, and it is currently on #9 of the Amazon best-seller list.
So I sent him a quick email to setup this interview and just get to know him more. In Part 1 I ask Tim about some general questions, including his view on productivity and 20/80 rules. Q: Tim, you have done a lot in your life – you are a kickboxing champion, a world record holder in tango, as well as running a multinational firm. Second, writing this book required me to conquer serious inner demons. TTT: There are a few reasons. How to feel better now. What makes you happy? I find directly pursuing happiness is difficult to do. Many times the things we think will make us happy fail to do so.
Instead I like to focus on growth and developing a strong life philosophy that can guide you through tough times and help you enjoy successes. But what about feeling good right now? I’ve found many different ways to give myself a jolt of happiness when I’m feeling down. Here is a list of different hacks I frequently use whenever I need a boost of positive emotion. Hack One: Goals Nothing creates a bigger jolt of enthusiasm than a new inspiring vision of the future. Hack Two: Chores Procrastination sucks. Hack Three: Laugh Don’t take yourself so damn seriously. Hack Four: Aid Help someone who needs it. Hack Five: Socialize One of the leading evolutionary theories for explaining the size of the human brain is our complex social structure.
Hack Six: Inspiration Find something to get you inspired, even if just for a short time. Hack Seven: Exercise. 7 stupid thinking errors you probably make. The brain isn’t a flawless piece of machinery. Although it is powerful and comes in an easy to carry container, it has it’s weaknesses. A field in psychology which studies these errors, known as biases.
Although you can’t upgrade your mental hardware, noticing these biases can clue you into possible mistakes.How Bias Hurts You If you were in a canoe, you’d probably want to know about any holes in the boat before you start paddling. Simply noticing these holes isn’t enough; a canoe will fill with water whether you are aware of a hole or not. Biases hurt you in a number of areas: Decision making. Here are some common thinking errors:1) Confirmation Bias The confirmation bias is a tendency to seek information to prove, rather than disprove our theories. Consider a study conducted by Peter Cathcart Wason. From this starting point, most participants picked specific rules such as “goes up by 2“ or “1x, 2x, 3x.” This is the tendency to see patterns where none actually exist. The Gentle Art of Saying No. It’s a simple fact that you can never be productive if you take on too many commitments — you simply spread yourself too thin and will not be able to get anything done, at least not well or on time.
But requests for your time are coming in all the time — through phone, email, IM or in person. To stay productive, and minimize stress, you have to learn the Gentle Art of Saying No — an art that many people have problems with. What’s so hard about saying no? Well, to start with, it can hurt, anger or disappoint the person you’re saying “no” to, and that’s not usually a fun task. Second, if you hope to work with that person in the future, you’ll want to continue to have a good relationship with that person, and saying “no” in the wrong way can jeopardize that. But it doesn’t have to be difficult or hard on your relationship. Value your time. What are your ways of saying “no”?